Improvement in casters



UAS @WR i PATENTED JAN 24 1871 .rNANols A. GARDNER, or

DANBUNY, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 111,193, dated Januar-y2@ 1871.

IMPRQVENIENT IN CASTERS.

l1 .'he Schedule refers-,ed to in these Letters Patent and mal-ring partof the same.

To all 'whom it may conce-m;

Be it known that I, FnANois A. GARDNER, of Danbury, in' the county otFairfield and State lot" Gonnecticut, have, vented a new and' usefullImprovef mentin Castersrandl do hereby declare the follow- Iiig to be afnl-l,-='elear, and 'exact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying draw- `-ing,fin'.whichi 'Figeafe'lis a sectionalperspeetive'view of myl caster. `Figure'is a transverse sectionalelevation of the same Figure .is a horizontal plan on line x.

Figure 4 is a cross-section showing curved casterplate.

Figure -5, section of fi'ictidn=1"oller.

This invention relates to .that class 'of casters which l ismsedforfurniture and other movable articles, and

which is provided withiliction-rollers to'reduce the friction of thespin dicin vits socket, or to dispenseI with said spindle entirely, andto enablethe bearlng roller to turn morereadily in the requireddirection.v

In casters where frictionrollers have been employed to relieve thefriction upon the central spindle they have always been airanged so astoY revolve upon axes perpendicularto the. prime axisof the caster, andin consequence of this arrangement the eentrifuf gal tendencyof'the'..rollers'so placed causes material friction between said rollersand those-parts oftthe de, vice which retain saidrollers in place.

My invention consists-. l yFirst, informing tho caster-plate with itsupper surface inclinedto the prime axis 'of the caster at an angle offorty-five degrees or thereabout, and inclos-y ing thel same inafilanged cylindrical case, with frictionrollers interposed between saidinclined face on the-one side and said shell and. ange'on the other, sothat .the axes of said rollers shall be inclined to the prime axis ofthe caster at an angle correspond-1 ingr to the jangle of the inclinedface of the` castel'- plate.

Second, and theplnte G, with radial arms'obliquey tothe prime axis ot'the caster, at an yangle of tbrtyii'vev degrees or thereabou't, saidvarms to retain vthe friction-.i-'ollersat oqnidistantpoints. Y

That others may fully understand my invention, I

will particularly describe its construction and encra-v A is the shellwhicn contains the op'erativel'iartsoi the apparatus. It is providedwith some convenient means ot'attachment lto a pieccof furniture orotherl l movable .a1-ticle; For thisgpurpose aiiange, v1 5, may' beemployed, and said ilange maybe n\ade.separate, or, lit may be, form apart of the shell A,4 and it may projeetlaterally or in the form o-"asoekelaas may be most convenient, orzbest adapted to the vpurposes forseparate, as shown in the drawing', it may be made to retain theoperative parts of the caster in place.

The interior of the shell-A is'cylindrical, and it is provided with aflange, a, prQiecting inward at rightv anglesto the sides of theeylinder.-

bythe cylinderA and dange a, and vwhen in operation Athey pressl equallyagainst said parts. l The caster-plate11is fitted vlooselytothe open endof the cylinder, and its upper side. vis beiveled atan angle et' aboutibrtyvefdegees `lto the Iside'A and -angem r- A. circular space, d, withtriangular section,'wi1l thus bc. formed -for the reception of thespherical rollers C, and' the said rollers will therefore be interposedbetween the shell A and theplate D, and will keep them apart. Therollers C may be placed loosely ,in this space,- as shown `in g. 3, and-in number as many as can be' placed therein without crowding eachother.

forced ontwardagainst the.;cy1inder A and upward against the flanged,and thatv thev resultant direction' ot' torce is `forty-live degreestothe axis of plate '1) and perpendicular to its inclined upper surface.

ot' forty-five degrees orfthereabout, so'that, the load points on thesurface of the ',easterplate.

.thereby retained in Aits central position, and frictional contact withthe lower edge of the'shell' is prevented. i e v A 'central steady-mint,wil-l be useful sometimes this will hardly ever bedistnrbcd except byviolence.

, 1f the angularthee oi* Ithe plate D be inade'eon-v cave, as shownin'fig. the displacement of said plate will be almost orentirelyprevented, v f

ing spherical rollers O Cand without contact with the dom, the frictionbeing. thereby Agreatlyn'e'dnce'd.v

E, one of which only 'ist shown in fig. 2 to form hearings for the`caster-wheel F. As before stated, the caster-wheel revolves lwith a verysmall lamountv of friction, and the axis of the wheel F can Ythereforebe .placed very n'ea'r' to the axisof the 'plate' 1);."- The the severalspherical friction-rollers.

Wh'en the spherical rollers C O'areqplacedloosely which'thecaster isintended to he used.` 'When made The spherical rollers C O rest in theangle formed' It will'he perceived that, with this arrangement of Y theplate -D within the shell,l the rollersQ are equally Y Thefrictioirljollei's'OCrevolve u po'n axes which v are inclined to theprime axis of the-easter at an angle stress and the centrifugal' thrustact against the sam-e,"

rlhe reactive force isi-against the plate D, which is to maintain thehorizontality of the lplate-1), though The plate' D, being supporteduponthe fmeniov-f4 shcllA, will revolvewith the greatest possible free-.

Upon the-lower side ofthe plate D are two lugs, E

' load willlthen be distributed 'very nearlyeqznall y upon between theshell Aand plateA D they mayebeilable yto crowd each other, andthus'iiiction Iwill be caused between them somewhat inproportion to theload sustained.

;'.l0 reduce the number .of rollers required, Ifeln-l "ploy, a-plate, G,`wth three or more. radial arms, H,

v*magie oblique tothe prime'axis of lche caster and eo ineidentwith .theaxes of revolution of therrollers O, 'and each of said Varms vpassthrough one of said roll-1 ers as anaxle, the rollers being .perforatedfor that purpose. A n

" The plate G rests freely between the shell A andv .the caster-plate D,and serves only to retain thefri'ction-rollers at equidi'stant points,and does not add. .in

y any appreciable degree to the friction ofthe movingparts;

1 am aware vthatconeal rollers with axes perpen dieular to thev primeaxis of the easter, have been used between inclined plates; but I am notaware that rollers revolving l'upon axes oblique to said prime-axis haveever been so used.

a facel inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees tothe primeaxis'of theV easter, and the spherical rollers 0,'to operate inthemauner .set forth.

allel with the iuclinedsurface of the vplate D, and combined with theshell'A, plate D, and rollers 0, for the purpose 'set forth. 4 V

` FRANCIS A.' GARDNER.

' -Witnessem l 'H S.TUBBEL,

Dam B. Boom;

combination with a caster-plate, D, constructed with 2. The ,plate G,constructed with radial arms H. oblique to the prime axis of the casterand about par-

